Pima Community College Joins National Network to Reskill Workers

Pima Community College has joined the state’s community colleges and numerous Arizona businesses and government organizations in the Reskilling and Recovery Network, a 20-state collaboration to help Americans who have lost their jobs due to the COVID pandemic and help local economies recover to their pre-COVID levels.

Pima’s Arizona partners in this effort include:

•  Office of Gov. Doug Ducey
• Achieve60AZ
• Arizona Commerce Authority’s Office of Economic Opportunity
• Arizona Community College Coordinating Council
• Arizona’s 10 community college districts, represented by Pima, Arizona Western College, Maricopa County Community College District and Yavapai College.
• Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp.
•  Pinal County Economic and Workforce Development Department
• The Boeing Company

The Reskilling and Recovery Network will focus primarily on helping women and communities of color, and will work to find solutions to close the equity gaps that have been worsened by the pandemic. Experts from the participating organizations will strategize, share tools, and collaborate on technical assistance for virtual activities. Strategies include engaging employers to partner with community colleges to train and hire new employees. 

Pima’s leadership in coordinating the statewide development and rollout of the Google IT Professional Support Certificate and continued leadership in the expansion of apprenticeship models across multiple college districts are examples of the partnerships and programs the College will continue to pursue through this network.

 “We have to help people acquire new skills and get the training necessary to adapt to the rapidly changing nature of the workplace,” Pima Chancellor Lee D. Lambert, J.D.,said. “This is also imperative to help us reach Arizona’s Achieve60AZ goal: that 60 percent of Arizona adults have a postsecondary degree or certificate by the year 2030. We only have 10 years, and for the sake of Arizona’s citizens and the future of our state, we need to reach that target.” 

About Achieve60AZ 

More than 150 organizations in Arizona form Achieve60AZ that is fueled by a community-based effort to ensure Arizona remains competitive through the power of education. Their collective goal is to generate greater awareness of the importance of increasing Arizona’s level of educational attainment while building support to improve college entry and completion; boost adult education and training; and fuel a pipeline of competitive talent for Arizona’s employers. Achieve60AZ promotes support for the long-term steps needed in college entry and completion, adult education and training, and identifying and closing skills gaps to better prepare our workforce and our state for the future when the majority of jobs in Arizona will require some type of higher education. For more information, visit: www.achieve60az.com.

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Founded in 1969, Pima Community College is one of the largest multi-campus community college districts in the U.S. Pima offers degrees and certificates in more than 140 transfer and occupational programs on five campuses and more than 100 teaching sites throughout Pima County. To learn more, visit www.pima.edu